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19th Century America

The 19th was the United States' first full century as a nation. It was full of birth pangs, moments of triumph, and things that made everyone shake their head and wonder what was going on. One of the most interesting of the latter bits was when British ex-pat Joshua Norton crowned himself Emperor of the United States, "reigning" from San Francisco.

Most people remember the 19th century for the Civil War. While it certainly was a significant event, one of the most important events in American history even, there were a number of surrounding factors that were just as important, and without which the War Between the States would never have developed.

Arguably the most significant of these was Western Expansion. The idea that Americans were fulfilling some kind of national destiny by claiming the Western part of the continent was called Manifest Destiny, and its origins can be found in the writings of some of the most prominent Founding Fathers, like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Their dedication to the Enlightenment ideal of human progress (that mankind controlled its own destiny, and that that destiny was to move ever forward) translated into a need to expand their country as far as possible.

As with anything else, God used that humanist doctrine to advance His own truth. While politicians and opportunists went West to obtain land, gold, and freedom, Christian missionaries went to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. People like Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and Jason Lee braved the Oregon Trail simply to share their faith with the Native Americans in the Western Territories; the Whitmans even gave their lives, becoming the Pacific Northwest's most famous martyrs.

Meanwhile, back in the East the bigwigs were conspiring to breach the 3,000 mile gap between the East and West coasts with a recently improved invention: the steam engine train. The First Transcontinental Railroad wasn't completed till 1869 (four years after the Civil War had ended), but it's origins reach back to the 1840s when it was first envisioned by Asa Whitney.

In fact, the transcontinental railroad was a significant element of Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign and administration. This was the problem: the North wanted the Trans to go through their territory because they had so much industrial product to move, while the South wanted it to run through the bottom half of the States so they could transport cotton, sorghum, and other agricultural goods.

The reality was a bit of a compromise, but the violent debates that stirred Congress had no small part in fomenting the division that would ultimately erupt in full-blown war. Slavery was the main issue, but it affected so many other factors that to reduce the origins of the Civil War to slavery alone is a bit revisionist and narrow-sighted.

For a lot of the 19th century, it seemed that the United States led a charmed existence, that Progress was a sure thing and there was nothing really to fear, certainly no problem that couldn't be overcome. The last two decades were exceedingly prosperous, leading to a sense of smug optimism that only the terror of World War I, the moral chaos of the Jazz Age, and the sudden insecurity of the Great Depression could effectively end.

Not everyone was man-centered and materialistic, however. The 19th century saw a surge in evangelism unlike anything the fledgling nation had seen, so pervasive and productive that it was called the Second Great Awakening. Unfortunately, a lot of doctrinal dilution came with the new preaching, but there were plenty of genuine conversions, and much good came of them.

It's difficult to reduce a one hundred year span to a few paragraphs, and there are certainly things we could have mentioned. Comprehensive treatments aren't always the best way to study history, though; each era has its own spirit and attitudes (its own zeitgeist, if you want to get all technical and German) that best represent it. We hope you'll bear that in mind in your study of the 19th century in America, and indeed throughout your study of history here and around the globe.

Topics of Interest from the 19th Century:

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.
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1846 - Portrait of the Nation
by Smithsonian Institute
from Smithsonian Books
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Buffalo Bill
by Col. William F. Cody
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Adventures of Captain Bonneville
by Washington Irving, illustrated by Robert Reynolds
Klickitat from Binford & Mort Publishing
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Adventures of Davy Crockett
by David Crockett, illustrated by John W. Thomason
from Charles Scribner's Sons
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Age of Fighting Sail
by C. S. Forester
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American Naval History for 8th-Adult
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Album of the Civil War
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
American Civil War
by Robert K. Krick
from Osprey Publishing
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
American Heritage History of the Indian Wars
by Robert M. Utley, Wilcomb E. Washburn
Revised from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
American Waterways: Canal Days
by Jeanne Munn Bracken, ed.
from History Compass
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Amistad Slave Revolt and American Abolition
by Karen Zeinert
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
Andersonville
by MacKinlay Kantor
from World Publishing Company
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1955 Pulitzer Prize Winner
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Battle from the Start
by Brian Steel Wills
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
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by William Thayer
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Black Falcon
by Armstrong Sperry
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Black Man in America
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Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
from John C. Winston
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by Patricia Beatty
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Buffalo Bill
by Helen Cody Wetmore
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 6th-9th grade
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Call of Duty
Leaders in Action Series
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Biography for 9th-Adult
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Carry a Big Stick
Leaders in Action Series
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Biography for 9th-Adult
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Chariot in the Sky
Land of the Free Series
by Arna Bontemps, illustrated by Cyrus Le Roy Baldridge
1st edition from John C. Winston
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Battles
by Curt Johnson
1st edition from Crescent Books
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War Songbook
from Dover Publications
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Civil War: 1861-1865
by David E. Roth
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Triangular Trade: An Economy Based on Human Misery
by Phyllis Raybin Emert, ed.
from History Compass
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
Dark Venture
by Audrey White Beyer, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
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Diary of a Southern Refugee During the War
by Judith McGuire
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Early Days of a Cowboy on the Pecos
by James F. Hinkle
from Unknown Publisher
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men
by Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
1st edition from Open Court Publishing
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$6.00 (2 in stock)
Emancipation Proclomation
by Tonya Bolden
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
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Era Of Civil War & Reconstruction 1860-1877
Focus on U.S. History
by Kathy Sammis
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Era Of Expansion & Reform 1800-1860
Focus on U.S. History
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Era Of Industrial Growth & Foreign Expansion 1865-1900
Focus on U.S. History
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Explorers, Missionaries, and Trappers
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Eyewitnesses at the Battle of Franklin
by David R. Logsdon
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Fortune of War
Aubrey/Maturin #6
by Patrick O'Brian
from W. W. Norton and Co.
Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
From Sea to Shining Sea
by Peter Marshall & David Manuel
from Revell Publishing
American History Reference for 9th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Gettysburg: Battle & Battlefield
by W. C. Storrick
from Barnes & Noble
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Gettysburg: The Final Fury
by Bruce Catton, photographs by Matthew Brady
1982 Edition from Berkley Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Gilded Age: A History in Documents
by Janette Thomas Greenwood
from Oxford University
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
Gods and Generals
by Jeff Shaara
from Ballantine Books
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Gold Rush Dogs
by Claire Rudolf Murphy, Jane G. Haigh
from Alaska Northwest Books
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$5.50 (1 in stock)
Great Battles of the Civil War
from John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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$15.00 (1 in stock)
Great Courses - American Civil War
from The Teaching Company
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$30.00 (1 in stock)
Guns Off Cape Ann
by Kenneth Poolman
from Evans Brothers Limited
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Harriet Beecher Stowe
by Suzanne M. Coil
from Franklin Watts
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Helen Keller: The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
from Dover Publications
Autobiography for 7th-10th grade
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Hero Tales
by Theodore Roosevelt & Henry Cabot Lodge
from Cumberland House
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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Heyday
by Ben Wilson
from Weidenfeld & Nicolson
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
History Channel Presents: The War of 1812 - 2 DVDs
from History Channel
for 7th-12th grade
$12.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 4
History of US Book 4
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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$15.95 $11.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 6
History of US Book 6
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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History of US Book 6
History of US Book 6
by Joy Hakim
3rd edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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$9.00 (1 in stock)
History of US Book 7
History of US Book 7
by Joy Hakim
3rd Revised Edition from Oxford University
American History Reference for 5th-9th grade
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Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1969 printing from Macmillan
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1930 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
by Harriet Jacobs
from Dover Publications
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James Fenimore Cooper
by Donald A. Ringe
from Twayne Publishers
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Jason Lee
Sowers Series
by Charles Ludwig
from Mott Media
Biography for 7th-9th grade
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John Brown Russwurm
by Mary Sagarin, Introduction by Ernest Kaiser
1st edition from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
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John James Audubon: Painting America's Wildlife
by Janet Stevenson, illustrated by Robert Boehmer
from Encyclopedia Britannica
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John Paul Jones
Sterling Point Books
by Armstrong Sperry
from Sterling Publishing Co.
Biography for 5th-9th grade
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
Journal of a Trapper
by Osborne Russell, edited by Aubrey L. Haines
from Bison Books
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Killer Angels
by Michael Shaara
from Ballantine Books
Historical Fiction for 9th-Adult
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Labor's Untold Story
by Herbert M. Morais, Richard O. Boyer
3rd edition from United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of Amer
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$5.00 (2 in stock)
Lady of Arlington
by Harnett T. Kane
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-12th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Last of the Old West
by George Mecklenburg
from The Capital Book Co.
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Laura
by Donald Zochert
from Avon Books
for 7th grade-adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Letter Writer
by Ann Rinaldi
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Lewis & Clark Voyage of Discovery
by Stephen E. Ambrose, photography by Sam Abell
First Edition from National Geographic
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Lewis and Clark Expedition - 3-volume Set
by Meriwether Lewis
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult
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$32.00 (1 in stock)
Life of General Stonewall Jackson
by Mary Williamson
from Christian Liberty Press
Biography for 7th-10th grade
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$11.75 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Lincoln: A Photobiography
by Russell Freedman
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1988 Newbery Medal winner
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$12.99 $7.50 (5 in stock)
Little Women
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Louis Jambor
from Grosset & Dunlap
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Scholastic Inc.
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2005 Newbery Honor Book
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Master George's People
by Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
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in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mathew Brady
by James D. Horan
from Bonanza Books
for 8th-Adult
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Men-of-War
by Patrick O'Brian
1st Us Edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 5th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Mirror of War: The Washington Star Reports the Civil War
by John W. Stepp, I. William Hill
from Prentice Hall
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mountain Men
by George Frederick Ruxton, edited and illustrated by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Mountain Men and Fur Traders of the Far West
by LeRoy R. Hafen & Harvey L. Carter
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 9th-Adult
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$21.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Lincoln Speaks at Gettysburg
by Mary Kay Phelan
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 6th-9th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Mr. Lincoln's Army
by Bruce Catton
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee
by David Crockett
Reprint from Bison Books
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$16.95 $8.50 (1 in stock)
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
by Frederick Douglass, edited and introduction by David W. Blight
from Bedford Press
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in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
New York Times Complete Civil War, 1861-1865
by Harold Holzer and Craig Symonds (editors), foreword by Bill Clinton
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 9th-Adult
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Nothing Like It in the World
by Stephen E. Ambrose
from Simon and Schuster
for 9th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Old West: Miners
from Time-Life Books
for 7th-Adult
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
by Francis Parkman, Jr., illustrated by Maynard Dixon
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Holiday House
for 5th-Adult
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Oregon Trail
Famous Books for Young Americans
by Francis Parkman
from A. L. Burt Company
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Our Mountain Hermitage
by Anne Roller Issler
from Stanford University Press
for 8th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Outrageous Women of the American Frontier
Outrageous Women
1st edition from Jossey-Bass
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Photographic History of the Civil War: Armies & Leaders
from Random House
for 6th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Pictorial History of the Civil War Years
by Paul M. Angle
from Main Street Books
for 7th-12th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Pony Express
by C. W. Guthrie
from Two Dot Books
for 6th-9th grade
in Pony Express (1860-1861) (Location: HISA-19PEX)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
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